Three Square Cards

My computer died last Thursday so had to get a new one.  So I'm very last minute getting a bunch of cards posted for challenges that are about to end.  

We Love Stamping wants to see wildlife - I went with a bear.  Addicted to CAS wants stripes - my bear has a lovely striped scarf.  And Time Out Challenge wants a clear element on the card - I used Glossy Accents which dries clear.

I stamped and coloured the bear and the oval of ice. Added the sentiment and trimmed with a square die. Popped it up on fun foam on a blue glitter card base. And then painted Crystal Glaze over the oval of ice.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge wants snowmen.  Christmas Cards All Year Round wants something that starts with E or F.  I went with F - my card has friends having fun together.  And Jingle Belles want something whimsical - I think it's pretty whimsical to have all those critters building a snowman.

Stamped and watercoloured, trimmed with a square die, bordered with a green square, and a sentiment stamped in red and trimmed with a small label die with the red ink rubbed around the edges.

AAA Birthday wants a birthday card with die cuts.

For the background, I used the Watercolor Imprint technique, following the instructions in this tutorial.  I used Distress Oxide inks.

Then die cut the birds on a branch out of off-white cs and tan cs, very slightly offsetting them when I glued them together so that there's a slight tan shadow. Stamped the sentiment (a belated birthday sentiment) in Brushed Corduroy and die cut it with a banner die.

      

    

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown bear, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - blue glitter cs, white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, fun foam, Nuvo Crystal Glaze, Spellbinders square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Anita Jeram (Colorado Craft Co), Impression Obsession sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, SU Real Red
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and green cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, small label die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Distress Oxide Brushed Corduroy, Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn 
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and tan cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - sentiment banner die, Rubbernecker leaf stencil, unknown bird die

Die Cut Heart and Three Little Robins

I make a few Valentine cards for my best friend each year.  Here's one for Shopping our Stash "Love Me Do" and Cut It Up "My Heart".

This card is perfect for the Cut It Up challenge as it uses nothing but die cuts.  I have this lovely swirly IO die with hearts in it so thought it would be perfect for the background. I die cut it in gold and added it to a cream card base. Then die cut a heart out of a scrap of Yupo coloured with red alcohol ink and gold foil pressed into the wet sections of the alcohol ink. The sentiment is inside as I thought it would spoil the look of the card if I put it on the outside.

And here's a Christmas card for the ABC Christmas Challenge "A is for Anything Christmas / B is for Bright" (it qualifies for both letters as I have the word "bright" in my sentiment), Christmas Cards All Year Round "Things Starting with A and / or B" (I have birds and the word "bright"), Sweet Stampin' "Bright and Beautiful" (my little birds are so bright and beautiful in their Santa hats, and I have the word "bright" in the sentiment), and AAA Cards Challenge (CASE Francesca's card - I have the same layout with three objects going across a narrow strip).

I had a leftover little strip embossed with a narrow mistletoe embossing folder and thought it would work with the AAA Card Challenge.  I used it to ground three little robins in Santa hats - stamped and watercoloured and fussy cut.  

     

    

  

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - cream and gold cs, scrap of yupo with alcohol inks and foil
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Memory Box heart die, Impression Obsession background die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black birds, Art Impressions sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, white linen cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, narrow mistletoe embossing folder

Masculine with Text and Old and New Supplies

For the Allsorts challenge "For Boys or Men", and for Try It On Tuesday "Add Some Text", I've made a card for a male friend's birthday.

My friend is a huge fan of the Irish playwright, Samuel Beckett, so I found some text written by Beckett on the internet, printed it off, did a bit of extra stamping on it, and sponged it with Distress inks to make it look old.  I added a Tim Holtz paper doll and a sentiment cut out with a narrow strip die, and mounted it on an off-white card base.

Making sure to also keep working on Christmas cards, I did this for Jingle Belles "Something Old, Something New", Shopping our Stash "Out with the Old, In with the New", Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Something New", We Love Stamping "New Things", and NBUS "Never Before Used Stuff".  My new is the Penny Black stamp, my old are my watercolour paints, my kraft cs, and my Glossy Accents. 

 

    

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment, Tim Holtz Paris postmark, Lavinia plant
Ink - Archival Watering Can, Versafine Smokey Grey, Distress Vintage Photo and Old Paper
Paper - heavyweight printer paper, off white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - sentiment die, Tim Holtz paper doll

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black birds, Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, kraft and red cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Glossy Accents

A Nuthatch Birthday and an Embossed Birthday

My Time to Craft wants to see something new in our stash.  I love bird stamps, and I feed the birds in my backyard.  One of my favourites of the ones who come to my feeders is the nuthatch so when I saw this nuthatch stamp I had to have it.

It's stamped and watercoloured, with a bit of light text stamping around it.  I bordered it with a bit of mottled sand-coloured cs.  I created another background layer with the sentiment stamped at the bottom of it and some twine wrapped around it.

Seize the Birthday wants wet or dry embossing.  I used embossing paste which I assume counts as a form of wet embossing.  And Inkspirational wants to see stencils.

I sponged various Distress inks through the harlequin stencil onto mixed media cs, cleaned off the stencil, replaced it, and then added clear embossing paste over it. I stamped the butterfly and watercoloured it with the same colours. Then fussy cut it. I popped the background up on fun foam on a rustic card base and added the butterfly and the sentiment.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - AALL & Create nuthatch, SU sentiment, text stamp
Ink - Versafine Clair
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs, mottled tan dp
Size - A2
Accessories - natural twine, watercolour paints

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black butterfly, SU sentiment
Ink - various Distress inks
Paper - mixed media cs, rustic cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders tag die, TCW harlequin stencil, Dreamweaver clear embossing paste, fun foam

Christmas Birds and Snow Dust

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

I treated myself to a Penny Black stamp I'd been eyeing for a while (even though I have more than enough Christmas bird stamps - but I just can't resist them!).

I bought it not realizing how big it is - hard to use on a regular A2 card so this is quite a bit larger.  I kept it simple - stamped and watercoloured, trimmed with my Tim Holtz deckle edge trimmer, and added to a red card base.  I added Glossy Accents to all the berries.

It's for a few challenges - Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Christmas", NBUS, Christmas Cards All Year Round "Anything Christmas", Shopping Our Stash "Winter Holidays", and Triple B "Birds, Butterflies, and Blooms".

A second card today is for two challenges - Double D "Winter / Snow Scene".  I was inspired by the beautiful blue and white of the snowy scenes in their mood board (see below).  And for Stamping Sensations "Favourite Colours" - my absolute favourite colour is blue, and I love blue and white together.

I stamped the trees with Versamark and heat embossed with a glitter white embossing powder. Then added a mask to create a snow bank and sponged two shades of blue Distress ink over the panel. The sentiment is die cut from white shimmer cs and stacked twice for dimension. The panel is popped up on fun foam on a white shimmer card base.

     

 

       

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black birds, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, dark red cs
Size - 5.5x4.75"
Accessories - watercolour paints, Tim Holtz deckle edge trimmer, Glossy Accents

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black Snow Dust
Ink - Versamark, Distress Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire
Paper - white cs, white shimmer cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Penny Black winter die, Judikins White Diamond embossing powder, fun foam

Three More Christmas Cards

There are still lots of Christmas challenges I want to link up to this month!

First of all, for Can You Handle the Pressure? "Dry Embossing with a Twist of Holly":

I used one of my very first embossing folders that has a swirly holly design.  It creates an ideal background for an older Penny Black stamp.  I inked it and the sentiment with a Kaleidacolor ink pad in various shades of green.  I popped the stamped panel up on fun foam and added red Stickles to the berries.

Second is a card for My Time to Craft Christmas "Elements Beginning with the Letter S".  I have snowflakes, Santa, and sleigh.

The background is a piece that I created when making a gelli plate print for a card I posted earlier (see this post for the earlier card).  I had a lot of blue acrylic paint left on the snowflake mask - before cleaning off the mask, I pressed it onto a piece of mixed media cs to use up the paint.  I added a die cut Santa and sleigh, and a narrow black border.

Lastly, for Festive Friday "Christmas Festive Food":

The challenge requires at least 3 things from their list - I have Christmas pudding, red, white, and brown.  The image is coloured with coloured pencils, trimmed with a Nordic frame, and bordered with dark red.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black Winter Bough, Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Kaleidacolor Caribbean Sea
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix embossing folder, red Stickles, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - mixed media cs, off white and black cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - Santa / sleigh die, blue acrylic paint, Memory Box snowflake mask

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown image, PB sentiment
Ink - black ink
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, The Greetery Nordic Frame die, fun foam, glossy accents